Strike would be last resort - union

Chloe Saltau -Jun 14, 2012

'It would be a disaster' ... George Bailey says striking is not the players' preferred option.. Photo: Getty Images

A CRICKETERS' strike would be a disaster and a last resort, Australian Twenty20 captain George Bailey has said, while expressing sympathy for domestic players whose lives are on hold because of the ongoing pay dispute.

Cricket Australia and the players' union will attempt to thrash out a resolution today as the one-day team departs for a tour of the British Isles.

Should the talks fail and the June 30 deadline pass, the union will consider ''other options'', including industrial action that could affect the World Twenty20, the Champions League and CA's important Big Bash League.

Bailey, a member of the Australian Cricketers' Association executive committee, is confident an agreement can be reached before the memorandum of understanding lapses, but he acknowledged the potential for serious consequences if progress is not made soon.

''The players still have full faith that the ACA and CA will be able to sort out the differences they have at the moment and come to a conclusion. Whenever there is talk of a strike, I think that is very much a last, last resort. It would be a disaster, I guess, if both the ACA and CA got to the stage where that had to occur,'' Bailey said.

His main concern, though, is for domestic cricketers who don't know whether they will have jobs in their states next summer, and can't talk to other teams while the dispute is unresolved because of a freeze imposed by CA.

''They are the guys you feel for most, guys at domestic level who are in limbo, not knowing where they are going to be playing, who they are going to be playing for.''

Queensland, NSW and Western Australia have begun pre-season training in an atmosphere of uncertainty, while Big Bash teams cannot start recruiting until a new deal is in place.

''There's players who are in a position where they aren't sure whether they should be training because the reality is they might not be playing for Tassie in a few months. That balance of, should they be looking for work or should they be looking to other states who actually are not allowed to talk to them at the moment? It's a bit of a challenge for those guys. But [for] the majority of the squad it's just a matter of time and they prepare as usual.''

At the heart of discussions is CA's push to change the revenue pool from which the players receive a 26 per cent cut, but both sides are hopeful of a breakthrough today.

The one-day team is set to play one game against Ireland, in Belfast, and a five-match series against England during the next month, but the subsequent Australia A series will be just as important for Bailey and several other Test aspirants.

''When an opportunity arises you've got to be in the right place at the right time and there's no doubt runs in those games would take the pressure off in the first couple of Shield games,'' said Bailey, Australia's second-highest run-scorer in his maiden ODI series in the West Indies and who will lead the country's quest for its first Twenty20 world title in September.

ICC boss Haroon Lorgat yesterday presented CA with a $US175,000 cheque for finishing the 2011-12 season as the No.1 ODI nation.